


Trapped in the Phone

by thoroughlynerdy



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-16 22:49:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9292961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoroughlynerdy/pseuds/thoroughlynerdy
Summary: Sho thinks his phone is haunted but the situation is a little more complicated than that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Piggywhale at the 2016 Aiba Exchange. I don't usually write Aiba/Sho but I had way too much fun writing this. the title is also a nod to the R. Kelly "Trapped in the Closet" but has absolutely nothing else in common with that song.

The first time it happens, Sho thinks there’s some sort of glitch in the system, that his phone has somehow crossed connections with another because when he checks, he most definitely has called his mom, but the voice answering his questions is clearly not hers. He hangs up to try again and when it rings, his mom does answer so he brushes it off as a fluke. 

Two days later he’s smiling in front of Matsumoto Castle, the first time he’s been here in years, and has his arm extended to take a selfie to commemorate the moment. Once he’s taken the selfie, he goes to inspect it, but nearly drops the phone in surprise when he sees he’s apparently been photobombed. He whirls around to shoot an annoyed look at the prankster, but the area around him is empty--there’s no one anywhere near him. He stares back down at the picture and, yes, there is someone grinning next to him. He tries again, but this time the grinning stranger has slung an arm around him and Sho wants to toss his phone into the water behind him, but stops himself just in time as he hasn’t backed it up in a few weeks. The need to preserve his documents and photos outweighs his terror at the stranger in his photos and he decides to cut the visit short instead.

-  
Sho steps into the gleaming white store and immediately is greeted by three employees wearing matching t-shirts and slightly forced looking smiles.

“Welcome to the Apple store, is there anything we can help you with today?” The girl on the left, her name tag reads “Ai-chan,” asks a little too brightly.

“I need to speak with one of your Geniuses. My phone is...glitching,” Sho replies a little evasively.

“Glitching? Hmm, that doesn’t sound good. Just follow me and we’ll put your name down and one of our Geniuses will take care of you.”

Sho obliges and puts his name down on the list. They’re predicting at least a half an hour wait, so he wanders and tests a few of the products not currently surrounded by teenagers. He pulls up a webcam and surreptitiously tries to see if his glitch will appear. He gives up after a few minutes and instead finds a seat near the Genius Bar so he can play on his phone while he waits instead.

He’s just sent a text to his best friend asking if he’s free for lunch the following weekend when a new message pops up on the screen. There’s no name, it’s just a message, and Sho feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

_hi i’m aiba masaki i was trying this spell the other day but something went a little weird and i think i ended up in your phone._

Sho stares down at the screen and tries to wrap his head around it.

_You’re IN my phone?_

_i think so?_  
i don’t actually know what happened   
one minute i was in my room and the next poof 

Sho is trying to figure out how best to broach the subject that maybe Aiba’s experiment or whatever went a little more weird than he thought and his body hadn’t fared as well as he’d hoped. How does one ask someone else if they might be dead?

_Well, I’m at the Apple Store right now and about to have one of the Geniuses see if they can do a diagnostic and see how to get you out of there._

_what if i want to stay?_

Sho is baffled by the question.

_Why would you want to do that?”_

Before he can get a reply his name is called and he’s standing in front of a guy a little taller than himself with a bored expression. 

“How can I help you?” His tone is equally as bored.

“There’s some weird glitch in my phone.”

“Can you be more specific?” the man asks, tone verging on annoyed now.

Sho heaves a sigh and glanced down at his nametag, Matsumoto Jun. 

“Last week I tried to call my mom and someone else answered. Then someone else started showing up in my selfies.”

Matsumoto’s eyes narrowed at him, “Someone else started showing up in your selfies?” he echoed.

“Yeah. And today he started texting.”

“Someone is taking pictures with you and texting you and you think it’s a glitch in your phone?” Matsumoto asked in disbelief.

Sho felt himself flush. The way he had phrased it makes it sound like Sho doesn’t have friends.

“No one was there when I was taking the selfies. I was alone. And the messages are from my own phone. Like I texted myself but I didn’t do it!” Sho unlocked his phone and navigated to his messages, but the exchange from a few minutes ago was no longer there.

Matsumoto gave him a strained look. “I can reset your phone and we can see if that solves the problem.”

Sho blanched at the suggestion, “It’s uh, been a while since I backed everything up. I’m not prepared for a reset today,” He said pulling his phone back toward himself.

“If you’re sure then. I’m sorry I couldn’t solve your problem today and I hope you have a nice day,” Matsumoto gave him a curt nod and turned his eyes to the list before him “Tadayoshi-san?”

Sho nodded and exited the store quickly. As he stepped onto the sidewalk his phone buzzed in his pocket.

_no reset today sho-chan?_

-

“I’m telling you,” Sho says through a mouthful of takoyaki, “My phone is haunted.”

“Haunted?” Ohno asks, ears perking up at the idea. “Like by a shinigami or something?”

“I hope not!” Sho replies, voice a little higher than normal. “I hope he’s more like Casper. You know. Friendly.”

“He really only appears when you take selfies?” Ohno asks curiously.

“I’ve gotten a few text messages too. His name is Aiba Masaki, he’s 33 and from Chiba. I think he’s trapped in the in-between or something. He keeps asking for help and to be freed. I guess his soul is still stuck here on earth and he can’t pass into the beyond.” Sho says spearing another takoyaki.

“Oh, that’s so sad!” Ohno says, a frown tugging at his mouth, “you’re going to help him, right?”

“I’ve been trying, but none of the sites I search seem to have any suggestions on situations like this. Spirits usually get trapped in or around the places they die. And I know for a fact that no one has been killed by my cell phone, so that’s a non-starter.”

“Have you tried an exorcism?”

Sho blinks back at his friend in silence. He actually hasn’t tried that yet, and decides it’s a good idea. “Do we know any priests?”

-

Ninomiya Kazunari is the only priest in a 50 mile radius who is willing to attempt an exorcism on Sho’s phone. Sho had been wary of even trying, after striking out with the first seven he’d tried, but apparently the eighth time's the charm when it comes to trying to remove spirits from haunted technology.

_do you think this’ll hurt_

Sho glances down at the message that pops up on the screen just as he’s lining up a Ratata in his lens. He groans when it flees before he gets a chance to throw a Pokeball at it.

_Can you even feel anything anyway?_ Sho asks in return.

_rude btw no one plays PokemonGo anymore_

_I do. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Plus, don’t you want to go to the afterlife, pass on to your blissful afterlife?_

_i’ve told you before i’m not dead! i was trying this spell and something happened and now i live in your phone_

Sho shakes his head and stares down at his phone. This was at least the fifteenth time they had had some variation of this conversation and there still seemed to be nothing he could do to convince Aiba that he was actually dead.

_Okay. Let's just say that you’re alive and well, but only stuck in my phone. Hopefully this Ninomiya can work his priest magic and free you either way._

_i think “priest magic” is probably a rude thing to say too just saying_

Sho closes out of the text and pulls up Google Maps so that when he gets off the train he won’t have to wander aimlessly as he tries to find Ninomiya’s church.

Ninomiya doesn’t have a church. He has a third floor apartment four blocks from the station and offers Sho a Metz Cola when he enters. 

“Uh, Father?” Sho asks tentatively as they stand in the small living room.

“Call me Nino,” the priest responds easily.

“Father Nino?” Sho tries again.

“Just Nino. I’ve never been one to flaunt my title,” Nino replies with an easy smile.

Sho stares at him for a few seconds before shifting a little uncomfortably. He’s only had contact with a few Catholic priests in his 30-something years on Earth, but most seemed a little more...formal than Nino was being.

“So, your phone is haunted?” Nino asks suddenly. “That sounds cool.”

“Uh, yeah, this guy keeps popping up in my pictures and sending me texts from my own phone. He also keeps deleting some of my games.” Sho glances down at his phone and rolls his eyes, holding it so Nino can read the screen.

_NO ONE PLAYS POKEMONGO ANYMORE_

“See?” Sho asks ruefully. 

Nino’s eyes widen a bit as he reads the screen, “Holy shit,” he breathes.

“Can priests cuss?” Sho asks in surprise, his eyebrows near his hairline.

“Most don’t, but I’m an exception,” Nino shrugs.

“How long have you been a priest exactly?” Sho asks suspiciously.

“Hmm, let’s see,” Nino begins, his finger tapping on the mole on his chin, “About three weeks? I did one of those hour long courses online.”

“You’re not a real priest?” Sho asks, eyes narrowing at Nino.

“I was ordained,” Nino counters easily.

“That’s not the same thing. Do you even speak Latin?”

“No one _speaks_ Latin. It’s a dead language,” Nino grins back.

“You know what I mean. You can’t do a proper exorcism without the Latin,” Sho says setting his drink on the coffee table (on a coaster) and turning towards the door. 

“Sorry, Aiba-chan, I don’t think anyone’s getting exorcised today,” He says quietly as he descends the stairs.

-

Sho’s wandering around Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden, his phone pressed to his ear as if he’s on a call, but it is Aiba he is talking to. “I’m sorry, Masaki. We’ll get this figured out soon, I promise.”

He hates making promises he doesn’t know for sure he can keep, but he feels determined enough about this one that it’s okay.

“It’s okay, Sho-chan, I know you’re really trying your best. You don’t just think I’m some messed up circuitry in your phone anymore! That’s already progress!”

Aiba’s bright response has Sho scowling because if it was him trapped, well, _wherever_ Aiba is trapped, he would be a little more mad at his situation. A little more insistent that the only person he can communicate with on a regular basis actually do something to resolve the situation.

“I mean real progress. There’s this really famous robotics tech at the University of Tokyo. I was thinking we could maybe try and make an appointment with him and see if he has any idea what could be happening.” It’s the only plan he can think of. The internet has zero resources, and he’s just desperate enough to try and convince one of the most well-respected technology experts in Japan of Aiba’s plight. 

“What do you think will happen once I’m free?” Aiba asks him quietly.

Sho’s thought of that. Of course he has, but that doesn’t mean he actually wants to have to face the answer. He’s grown fond of his constant companion over the last few weeks and irrationally thinks he will probably end up feeling a little lonely without the random input in his life.

“I’m not sure. I hope we can meet again somehow,” Sho replies as comes to a stop near one of the reflecting pools.

The water is clear and he can see the koi swimming just beneath the surface. It’s a peaceful spot and Sho wants to save the moment. He snaps a few pictures of just the fish before he decides to venture out across a few of the stepping stones to get a better angle of the temple in the background.

As he’s shifting to get the best angle possible, Sho loses track of where his feet are on the stone and he very nearly ends up in the water. As he is windmilling his arms to get his balance back, the unthinkable happens and his phone goes flying. He watches in horror as it lands with a decisive plop about four feet away in the water.

“Masak!” he shouts and and takes about fifteen seconds to seriously contemplate diving in after. Before he can make up his mind one way or the other, a few bubbles start forming where his phone went under and then someone is crashing through the surface. Sho watches in a mixture of terror and wonder as the face he’s become so familiar with materializes before him. 

“Masaki?” he asks this time, eyes wide.

“Sho-chan! Oh my god, I’M FREE!” Aiba shouts in reply and starts swimming toward him.

Sho carefully helps him out of the water, and together they return to the path by the water. He guides him to a nearby bench and stares at Aiba in wonder.

“You’re real?” Sho asks weakly.

“Of course I’m real. I told you, spell gone wrong. Not dead,” Aiba chides lightly before a shiver runs through his body.

“I see that. We should get you home. And me a new phone,” Sho says a little forlornly as he stares at the water.

“Home would be good,” Aiba agrees with a grin.

“One thing though,” Sho says as they stand, “Promise to give me your number. I want to make sure I can still text and call you when I want.”

Aiba’s smile is radiant as he wraps Sho in a wet hug.


End file.
